The Problem with Herky's Hanger
by Goldsaddletank
Summary: Herky's snoring starts up again, and it's loud! Can Jay Jay and his friends work out why? And can they help Herky through his feelings towards his new hanger?
1. Chapter 1

The sun was shining at Tarrytown Airport. Herky stirred and stretched. He was ready to start the day as usual.

Ahead, he saw Tracy, Jay Jay and Snuffy talking amongst themselves. As he got closer he heard that their usual colloquial conversation take on a stiff tone, accented by loud strenuous yawning.

"Something has to be done." Moaned Tracy. "I am so tired."

"Yes, I agree-on both counts." Added Jay Jay "We should tell Brenda later."

Herky just shrugged and set off to Farmer Ben's farm. He had some crops to take to market, as Ben hadn't a working car, didn't own a van and hated using his tractor outside the farm boundaries. He didn't pay further heed.

…

But the others did, as well as a visit to the Tarrytown Airport mechanic.

"Well you guys should tell Herky that he's still snoring. Its kinder to you and kinder to him. So, I suggest that you speak to him about this." Brenda Blue said firmly. "Besides, I thought his snoring was fixed?"

"Hm, that is a bit strange." Jay Jay agreed.

"Come on, we better go and talk to him." Decided Tracy.

But Jay Jay wondered why his friend was snoring still. He and Brenda had fixed the problem some time before and it was all fine. So why was this happening again? Only this time of course, Snuffy and Tracy were on the receiving end.

"Jay Jay?"

"Yes Brenda?"

"Let me know if you guys need any more help okay?"

"Okay thanks, Brenda." Jay set off to leave.

"No problem, Jay Jay." Replied Brenda, watching him disappear to find Snuffy and Tracy.

…

Inside Herky's hanger, the trio were searching for clues that could lead them to the reason why Herky was snoring.

"Hm Well he has his gum shield so maybe it's to do with that." suggested Tracy.

"To be honest, I think that the size of the hanger must be to do with it." Snuffy suggested meekly.

"Tracy, I'm going with Snuffy on this one. Herky wears his gum shield all the time." Defended Jay Jay.

"Well I think it's a problem with the gum shield." Tracy insisted.

"I say it's the size!"

"Gum shield!"

"Size!"

"Gum shield!"

"Size!"

Poor Snuffy felt unsure of what to do. He started to make his way to the door to find Savannah to calm the argument- but to his horror, he found Herky staring back at him.

They had been found out.

…

Soon after a discussion and several apologies made, Herky demanded an explanation.

"Well the truth is; we were kept awake by your snoring last night." Tracy explained.

"So we thought we'd help." Added Snuffy.

"By coming in here? " Herky felt hurt.

"Well yeah, but now I can see why it looks bad." Sorry Herky." The others followed suit.

Herky was silent.

"Alright. I didn't want to admit in case you laughed at me, but I'll say it now; I broke my gum shield yesterday."

"And you never told Brenda or us about it?" Tracy asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. I'm sorry." Herky said.

"We are too." Conceded the others.

"So shall we see Brenda and fix this problem?"

This was agreed upon.

…

Brenda promised to sort Herky's gum shield as soon as the problem was explained. She also had something else to tell them.

"Tracy you may have been right with the gum shield problem but the boys were right too."

"How?" They asked.

"Well, sound travels in waves that we can't see. If you're indoors, the waves bounce off walls and bounce around the room. That's called an echo."

"Oh." They all said.

"So Herky's snoring was echoing round his hanger causing all the noise that disturbed you three from your sleep. But we can fix that too."

Everyone thought this sounded like a grand idea!


	2. Chapter 2

Herky arrived at Farmer Ben's farm exactly on time. He was delivering apples for Farmer Ben's horses for feeding them, as they had enough of carrots at this point! Soon, Herky's delivery was unloaded and the apples were carted away by the farmhands.

"Thank you, Herky. My horses will get fed a feast of change thanks to you!" Farmer Ben laughed.

"You're welcome, Farmer Ben. Now, if you don't mind, I better get back to Tarrytown." Herky said, preparing for take-off.

"Of course hard work to do and all that, eh?" Farmer Ben said, a warm smile gracing his features.

"Yeah," agreed Herky, smiling.

"Well thank you again!" Farmer Ben waved goodbye to Herky as he took off for Tarrytown.

He was halfway back when he heard his radio go off. "Herky where are you?" Brenda Blue's voice crackled.

"I'm about halfway back to Tarrytown- why?" Herky asked curiously.

"Be home as soon as possible- we have a surprise for you!" Brenda's voice went dead over the communication transmitters.

"Odd," muttered Herky. "It's not even my 'birth'day. What is going on?"

…

Herky could not believe his eyes. He had just gone into his hanger to rest, and now he was seeing this- his hanger was huge! Or at least, it was a lot bigger than it was before he left.

"What… what happened?" He asked, shocked.

"You got a newer, bigger hanger!" Brenda explained, beaming.

"Yeah do you like it?" His friends asked.

"Well I don't know. It's too… big, and wide."

The others were dismayed. "But Herky," said Tracy "we thought you'd like a newer hanger. You seemed so cramped in your old one."

"So? Biggerrr doesn't always mean betterrr." Herky huffed.

…

Herky hated his new hanger. It was very spacious and, he had to admit, a lot easier to move around in- but he didn't know what to do with the new space he had.

He tried to move and spread himself out, but that wasn't very comfortable. He tried to find some things to use to fill up the hanger- but he got into trouble.

...

Only the other day, Old Oscar had been sent in due to a faulty jet. Brenda had been hard at work trying to mend him, but he hadn't gotten any better.

So, there had been no choice but to order a new jet. It was now sitting in the workshop waiting to be fitted. Old Oscar was asleep and Brenda was away sorting things with Mr E.Z concerning the elderly jet plane.

So, Herky snuck in. He was attached to the crate. He attempted to fly off…And the cable snapped loudly.

Old Oscar stirred and grunted. Frightened, Herky flew off before anyone noticed what he was doing.

 _'Oh, it's no use.'_ He thought, sadly. _'I'll never get used to my new hanger.'_

Suddenly, he heard very loud laughter. "Huh? It sounded like Tracy and Snuffy!" He realised to himself.

He peeked out cautiously. Jay Jay was just finishing a funny story he was telling them, and the other two were laughing.

But what surprised Herky was that they were much closer than usual!

"Oh, hey Herky," Said Tracy suddenly, on seeing him peeking out from his hanger.

The others were immediately silenced. It was awkward simply being there. Finally, after a period of silence of silence, Jay Jay spoke.

"Listen, Herky, we're sorry if you don't like your hanger."

Herky thought a moment. "It's the fact that it's too big." He admitted "I don't like having so much space. It feels so…unnatural."

"But Herky we did that, so that you would have more room to live in," Said Tracy, disappointment evident in her tone.

"Yes and we thought that you'd like being nearer us," Added Jay Jay. "But I guess we were wrong."

"No you're not." Herky replied, a smile breaking out. "I never thought that I would get a hanger close to you guys! Now I can feel more involved in conversations!"

"Yes so does that mean you-?"

"I'll get used to it." Herky grinned. "If it means I can be with you guys more."


	3. Chapter 3

"So in order to stop that echo, I think we should make the walls thicker." Brenda announced. "It will take a while, and we will need plenty of help, but I think it'll be worth it." She said.

"Yeah!" agreed Tracy enthusiastically.

"I can't wait to get started!" Snuffy added.

"Shouldn't we tell Herky first?" asked Jay Jay.

"Yes good idea. We'd better find him." Brenda agreed.

...

But when Herky heard the news, he was horrified. He thought they were going to take his hanger down- and just when he had gotten used to it as well!

"You can't! I like my new hanger now! I wouldn't allow it!" He shouted, and he flew away in a frantic frenzy, in order to find somewhere to hide.

"Herky wait!" Brenda yelled. "You got it all wrong! That's not what we want to do at all! You guys better go after him and bring him back." Brenda said worriedly to the young jets.

"Don't worry, Brenda!" declared Jay Jay confidently "I know we'll find him!"

...

Meanwhile Big Jake was enjoying a well-earned day off, and he decided to head to Smiling Meadows and relax for a while. So he set off to enjoy himself- but, much to his surprise, he saw a small yellow helicopter in Smiling Meadows!

"Herky!" He called out "what are you doing here?"

"Big Jake, it's awful!" Cried Herky. "Brenda and the other jets want to tear down my new hanger! She got workmen in and everything and they're just gonna rip it down! I came straight here to hide so they wouldn't do it!"

"Herky!" Big Jake exclaimed. "It's not right to jump to conclusions- or to run away without telling anyone."

"I know now..." Mumbled Herky guiltily.

"Don't worry Herky- I'll stay with you for a bit." Big Jake reassured him. He was sure another jet would find him soon- most likely Snuffy, Tracy and Jay Jay. But until they came, he'll keep an eye on Herky.

...

The small jets, thanks to Tracy's sharp eyes, found Herky in Smiling Meadows with Big Jake so they set down to land by their friends.

"Herky!" They exclaimed in relief! "You're alright!"

"I'm not- you guys were going to tear down my new hanger." The helicopter protested sadly.

"Herky, that's not what we were going to do!" Tracy exclaimed in horror.

"Yeah!" agreed Snuffy, "We just wanted to make the walls thicker so that the echo wouldn't happen in your hanger. That's what workmen are going to do. They're not taking it down."

"So you...just wanted to fix it?" The helicopter asked, relieved that they weren't going to rip it down.

"Yes, of course," Replied Jay Jay, softly.

"Oh..." Herky said sheepishly. "I'm sorry for running off, and for jumping to conclusions. Can you forgive me?"

"Of course!" The three planes chorused.

"We better head back to Brenda and tell her you're okay," Said Snuffy.

"Yeah- I need to apologise to her, too," Added Herky. "Thanks for staying with me, Big Jake."

"You're welcome, Herky. You guys go on back to Tarrytown- I'm going to stay here for a little while." He told them.

"Okay, Big Jake- we'll see you later!" The four friends chorused, and with that, they flew back to the airport to report Herky was safe and sound.

...

"Thank goodness you're alright, Herky!" Brenda exclaimed. "Where were you?"

"Smiling Meadows...I'm sorry, Brenda- I thought you guys wanted to take down my new hanger, and I've come to like it a lot, so I ran away..."

"Well, we're just reinforcing the walls in your hanger in order to make them thicker and muffle noise," Said Brenda. "It'll require a lot of work, but we're not taking your hanger down. And please, don't run off again. I was worried about you." She added.

"Okay, I wouldn't...And, I'm sorry- both for jumping to conclusions and running away."

Brenda Blue softened. "I forgive you, Herky," She replied kindly. "After all, it was just a misunderstanding, and you're back safe and sound. Just avoid doing either of those things in future."

"I will," Promised Herky earnestly.

"Good," Said Brenda. "Now, we'd best get started on your improved hanger!"

And so, that's what they went to do. It took a while, but it was much better for all concerned when it was finished- and there was no echo!


End file.
